‘Ever hear the expression, “Everything old is new again?” Do we have a breed for you!

The Podenco Orito is described by some as a “new” Spanish breed, but there is nothing new about it. Oritos have always been around in Malaga, Spain, but there were so few of them, and only in specific areas, that the breed nearly vanished. It didn’t help when Oritos were bred with other podencos, and worse, with breeds not even remotely close to being podencos.

We came across one more reason that the Orita fell into trouble, and sadly, it had to do with color. In rural areas, “orito” was any animal (including dogs) that had black or brown hair with chocolate colored reflections of gold, or “oro.”When the Podenco Andaluz standard was written, however, chocolate brown or black with reddish brown markings were excluded from the section on color, and that lead to some people to ignore pondecos of those colors.

Orito enthusiasts – mostly rabbit hunters – remembered the Orito as a breed that had always been present on the banks of the Genil and the Guadalhorce, Malaga, because they were the best to hunt the rabbits in extreme conditions of weeds and moisture. Some were convinced, in fact,  that the Orito was the ancestor of all existing Podenco breeds on the Iberian Peninsula.  They pointed out that the Orito could adapt to any surface, wet, hard, soft or dry, and in all conditions. One Gaspar Jiminez said, “What other dogs cannot reach, the Orito always will.”

If you have been following NPDD posts of late, then you know that the Orito is the latest installment in our series on podenco breeds. Until now,  phenotypical traits of podencos have been similar across the board. The Orito, however, is different, and you can see it in the image above.  The Orito’s coat is different. His skin is “harder,” and he has a protective undercoat more profuse than in other podencos. His features, too, are different. A couple sources even point to “flexible toes” as a reason these dogs are to negotiate difficult terrain.

The good news is that the Podenco Orito is said to be increasing in numbers, and the first meeting of the Asociación Nacional del Podenco Orito Español held in 2009 was the first step at getting the breed recognized by the Sociedad Canina Española. The breed is well worth saving! Noble and intelligent, these dogs are affectionate and easy to train for pondenco. They share the great sense of smell, sight and sounds that other podencos have, but this one adapts very well to almost any climate.

Image of a Podenco Orito found on Pinterest and happily credited upon receipt of information